STROUD, Okla. —  It would not be deju va for Pond Creek-Hunter’s girls Saturday in the Area III losers bracket finals.

The Lady Panthers, who lost twice in the area tournament a year ago after going in undefeated, beat Velma-Alma 55-51 in the Area III losers bracket finals behind a gutsy Jade Jones.

Jones left the game in the second period after she re-injured a knee, but came back to score 16 points to put the Lady Panthers in the state tournament.

Carson Ferguson scored 19 points to lead Pond Creek-Hunter. Rylie Halcomb had 11.

The Lady Panthers’ defense forced 15 turnovers, including a steal by  Tiarra Davis with 24 seconds left with Pond Creek-Hunter clinging to a 52-49 lead.

Davis hit a free throw to make it 53-49 after being fouled on the play. V-A scored on a layup with seven seconds left, but Jones locked the game up by hitting two free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining.

The game was tied at halftime (25-25) and after three periods (39-39). The Lady Panthers were able to maintain control for the game’s final four minutes, holding V-A scoreless for three minutes at one point.

Dylan Billingslea scored 31 points as No. 2-ranked Glencoe prevented the Pond Creek-Hunter boys from a state trip, 56-36.

The Panthers were in control the entire game in raising their record to 28-1.

Pond Creek-Hunter ends its season at 23-7.

Eric Galliton led the Panthers with eight points.

Lady Tigers down DCLA for state berth



CLEVELAND — The Timberlake Lady Tigers earned their third-straight trip to the state tournament Saturday by defeating archrival Deer Creek-Lamont 47-38 in the Class B Area III girls winners bracket championship .

Timberlake trailed 7-6 after the first period, but scored the first bucket in the second period to take an 8-7 lead and never trailed again in the contest.

The No. 5 Lady Tigers (23-3) were led in scoring by Bailee Clift’s 16 points. She was joined in double digits by Karly LeForce with 12 points.

Marian Muegge led DCLA with 12 points and Katy Starr added 10 points.

Timberlake blew open a close contest with an 11-2 run at the start of the fourth period, opening up a 40-27 lead and eventually extended its lead to 13 points late in the fourth quarter at 45-32. DCLA wasn’t able to draw closer than nine points as Timberlake was able to seal its bid to the state tournament.

At Kingston, Lomega reached the Class B state tournament with a 57-29 win over Midway.

No. 3 DCLA (20-7) will have another chance to reach the state tournament at 6:30 p.m. Monday when it takes on Burlington, a 64-25 winner over Copan in the consolation semifinals. Tiffany Rieger poured in 36 points for the Lady Elks, who lost to DCLA in last year’s area losers bracket finals.

The Lady Elks (25-5) started hot and finished even hotter, opening a 9-2 lead to start the game, going up 18-10 after the first period. The Lady Hornets (19-11) kept it close in the second period and briefly took their only lead of the game at 19-18 in the second frame. However, their lead was short lived.

With Burlington up 27-23 entering the third period,  Rieger and the Lady Elks put on an impressive display, outscoring Copan 18-0. The domination continued into the fourth period as Burlington ran away, outscoring Copan 37-2 in the second half for the easy victory.



Coyle routs Burlington in boys final



CLEVELAND — The Coyle Bluejackets punched their ticket to the Class B state tournament in convincing fashion with a 75-36 win over Burlington in the Class B Area III winners bracket final Saturday in Cleveland.

Burlington led only once in the contest, 4-2 early in the first period before Coyle went on a 12-2 run and never looked back.

The No. 12 Elks (22-7) were led in scoring by senior Brandon Gosselin, who had a game-high 21 points.

Coyle (23-4), which held a significant size advantage, was paced by Fidel Simpson with 20 points and Chicago transfer Eric Harris’ 16 points

Burlington will have one more opportunity to reach the state tournament when it faces Mulhall-Orlando at 8 p.m. Monday in Cleveland in the losers’ bracket final.



Eaton leads OBA into area tourney



MINCO — Adam Eaton scored 19 points as Oklahoma Bible Academy beat Carnegie 42-33 to win the losers bracket championship in Class 2A Area II Region A-B.

The Trojans, 13-14, advance to the Area II tournament which begins Thursday at Anadarko. They will play the Konawa/Hydro-Eakly loser at 8 p.m.

Dylan White held high-scoring Jonathan Bronaugh to eight points, about half of his normal average.

“It feels really good,’’ said Ford about the Trojans first trip to area since 2009. “The boys are playing well at the right time. Dylan took Bronaugh out of his game. He stuck on him the whole time.’’

The Trojans had quarter leads of 9-6, 19-12 and 31-27.

“We were really patient on the offensive end,’’ Ford said. “Our guards did a great job of recognizing a mismatch inside and let our post players go to work.’’



Fairview girls win regional behind Mason



MINCO — Olivia Mason scored 21 points as defending state champion Fairview beat Cordell 49-35 in a girls winners bracket finals Saturday.

The Lady Jackets, 24-3, can clinch a state tournament berth by winning in the Area II winners bracket finals Friday at Anadarko.

The Fairview boys lost to Latta, 39-28 in overtime in the boys winners bracket finals.

The Yellowjackets must win three games at area to make state.